Stiff Dresser
by Namine's angel
Summary: Before the events of the game, Lucifel tried to get his brother into modern fashion and failed. A small fic to celebrate the fourth El Shaddai Anniversary.


Hey.

While I've stopped trying now, when I was younger, I really tried to get Michael into modern fashion. It was fine if he didn't get really into it, but his robes looked so stiff on him. Of course, both you and I know that he can be a bit of a stiff scatterbrain sometimes, but I thought it would be nice if he didn't look like one, since it would help some of the lesser Angels get along with him. On my first attempt, I brought a comb and a bag full of ribbons, hair ties, clips (some with interesting designs and some without any), a few scrunchies, and a couple of headbands back to Heaven. Thankfully, at that moment, Michael was sitting at a plain brown desk, reading a book that I had brought back up for him. No, I'm not going to tell you what it was. Use your imagination. However, I will go on and tell you that I put the bag down on the desk and started to carefully comb his hair for him. Sure, it was unnecessary, but I like doing things like that sometimes.

I suppose he was too engrossed in the story to really focus on things outside it, so he didn't sense my presence or really see what I had put down on the table until I started brushing his hair.

"Lucifel, what are you doing?"

"I'm just brushing your hair. It's something Humans do to make it look nice."

"It feels strange..but doesn't my hair already look alright? It's not in a state of disrepair." Even back then, Michael was still a bit clueless at times.

"It does, but this will make it look nicer." I lightly chuckled to myself as I ran a few fingers through his hair. It really didn't need to be combed, since it was already smooth and free of tangles, but, like I said, I enjoy doing things like that sometimes. "Don't worry about it, Michael. You can keep reading. I'll let you know when I'm done."

"Alright then." He looked over his shoulder so that he could give me a fond smile, though I suspect that he'd been smiling like that even before he turned around. "I'm really enjoying this novel you found, Lucifel."

"Really? Then I guess I'll have to bring back the sequel when I go back down."

"Oh, thank you. I hope it's as good as this one."

"Well, there's only one way to find out." Since he didn't have anything else to say after that, Michael turned back to his book, enjoying the sensation of having someone else comb your hair while I thought of ways to style it. After thinking of a couple and discarding them, since they would just make him look foolish (you try picturing Michael in pigtails without laughing), I finally settled on the idea of braiding it. Either Michael was really absorbed in the novel or he was paying head to my advice because he didn't stir or say a single word as I slowly braided his hair, taking care to make sure that each loop looked perfect. I wasn't about to give my brother a terrible hairstyle, after all. Eventually, I tied it up with a thick blue ribbon, but it still looked like it was missing something, so I carefully attached a few red, plain hair clips into each section of the braid before taking a few loose ends near the top of his head and tying it all up in a cute, tiny braid. I couldn't stop myself from slipping a brightly colored scrunchie onto the end of each braid section, but it didn't look bad. From the back, I have to say that he looked pretty sharp and not the kind of person who'd be a touch scatterbrained.

"Alright, Michael, I'm done. Wanna take a look?"

"Ah..alright then." As he spoke, he put the book down on the desk and looked at the bag I'd brought up while I summoned a mirror. If you don't know how, then find out on your own time.

"Well, what do you think? Looks pretty impressive, doesn't it?" As I spoke, I brought the mirror around so that Michael could look at my handiwork, but while he'd been smiling, it faded when he saw the fruit of my labors.

"Lucifel..I appreciate all the trouble you went through, but..I don't think I like how you combed my hair."

"What? How come?"

"It seems too…loose. It would be rude to the other Angels if I spoke to them and didn't look like I was taking them seriously. I'm sorry, but..could you change it back?"

"Of course! That's not a problem. Wouldn't want you to look rude, though I'm sure everyone would be fine if you had your hair like this. Nobody's feathers would be ruffled."

And so ended attempt number one, after I finished getting Michael's hair back to normal. Attempt number two came some time later, though I didn't intend for it to be an actual attempt at first. It just started as some playful teasing between brothers when, after looking away from me for a few moments, I snapped my fingers and swapped Michael's robes out for..an outfit that looked exactly like mine. You'd think that I'd turned him into an elephant, the way he jumped before turning to face me.

"Lucifel, why did you change my clothes?!"

"I just felt like seeing you in something different for a change. It gets a bit tiring, seeing you in them and nothing else all the time."

"But this is exactly what you're wearing right now." While he didn't sound too pleased, he still felt the front of his new shirt as he spoke, since it was a new sensation for him.

"And you're saying that they don't look nice?"

"Of course not, but wouldn't it seem even more tiring if I simply wore your outfit?"

"It would actually be a step in the right direction, but, if you want, I'll see if I can take you down to Earth with me so that we can get you your own modern outfit." Thankfully, his smile came back at the suggestion.

"I would like that, Lucifel. It would be fun to see the future with you. But, for right now, could you please give me back my robe?" With a quick snap, I gave it back before turning around and calling up God to see if and when he could come down with me. The Lord was a bit worried at first, since he didn't know how Michael would react to the future or how well he'd handle it, but, eventually, he calmed down and said that Michael could come down to Earth with me right now, if I wanted to.

So, attempt number three was made only moments after attempt number two, just as I was putting my phone back in my pocket and Michael was finishing putting his robe back on, pulling his long hair out so that it didn't get caught in the back.

"Actually, we could go right now, if you want."

"I just said that I would like to, Lucifel. If I can go with you right now, then I'll go with you right now." Dunno why, but I couldn't help but smile at that, even if it did sound a little stiff.

"Alright then. Hold onto your hats, Michael." Before he could ask me what that meant, I quickly snapped my fingers and transported us behind a huge mall in Japan so that we could just walk to the front and get in without looking suspicious, even though Michael's robes would make him stand out. However, while I was used to the modern world, Michael wasn't, so he looked around for a few minutes so that he could take everything in before turning towards me.

"It smells strange, and it doesn't look like we're at the entrance."

"We're not. This is the back, where they dump out their garbage. I didn't want to make us look weird while we're here, since it'd just cause problems later on. C'mon, this way." And with that, I led him into the mall, through the huge general store that served as the entrance, and quickly walked o the back, so we could see all the other small stores and decorations inside. I'd never been to this mall before, so while I looked around for a good store to take Michael, he gazed about with a cute, stunned look on his face. He looked a bit like a confused parrot.

"It looks like this is a collection of stores."

"Yup, that's what a mall is. It's a pretty impressive piece of Human design and ingenuity. Especially the wishing well."

"The wishing well?"

"It's a common thing to see in malls. It's easier to explain if you're looking at it though, so we might visit it once we're done getting you some new threads." Thankfully, Michael seemed to understand that figure of speech, since he didn't question it, and I spotted a fairly large Edwin shop, so I pointed to it, smiling. "Let's go in there. I've been in there before, and I'm pretty sure they'll have a few things you'll like."

"Ah..alright." Once again, he carefully followed me as we went in and as I politely shooed away one of the employees, telling him that we were just browsing, which was true. Michael still seemed to be taking it all in, but he managed to snap out of it so that he could smile and thank the employee for his concern before turning to me. "You're far more knowledgeable about these things than I am, Lucifel, so, where do you think we should start?"

"Probably the shirts, if you want. I think something gray would go nicely with your hair." Of course, it would also tie with my black outfit, but I wouldn't say that. Instead, since Michael had no complaints with that plan, we wandered over to the shirt section where he picked out a long-sleeved gray shirt before grabbing a pair of black jeans, a white tie, and a white belt (after I told him that it would be better if he wore them with the jeans) and headed to the dressing room. I hate waiting, so I killed some time by looking around the store and playing a few games on my phone before Michael came out, holding his robe and..looking stiffer than ever.

I don't know why, but he'd decided to tuck his shirt into his pants, and since his hair wasn't tied up, it just made him look all the more awkward.

"What do you think? How does it look?"

"Well..it's not a bad start, but why did you tuck your shirt into your pants?"

"I thought it looked a little more formal. It feels like there's something missing though." As he spoke, I quickly summoned a few hair ties in my right pocket by snapping my fingers in my left.

"I imagine that it's probably the tie. You'd look a lot more comfortable and relaxed if you didn't have it on."

"It seems like most of the models in this shop are wearing them though."

"The models aren't always right, Michael. Sometimes, you have to go with unconventional wisdom." As I spoke, I quickly undid the tie and slipped it off him, and while he looked unsure and a bit uncomfortable (though I'm not sure why), he didn't stop me. "So, you really should go back and pull your shirt out. And I think it would be better if you tied your hair up." I tried to give him a few of the ties, but he didn't take them. Apparently, it was the one bit of fashion advice he wasn't going to take from me today.

"Lucifel, I like my hair as it is. You know that."

"Sorry. Just trying to see if you'd changed your mind." As he went back to the dressing room, walking like an unsure deer, I put the ties back in my pocket, sighed just because I wanted to, and put the tie back where Michael had found it before pulling out my phone so I could play a couple of games while I waited. Thankfully, I didn't have to wait too long for Michael to come back, even though he looked even more unsure with his shirt hanging out, free from his pants.

"Hey, welcome back. How does it feel?"

"It feels..strange. I suppose I'm not as used to this fabric as you are, Lucifel, and I keep getting the feeling that my shirt should be tucked in."

"I don't know why, but you shouldn't tuck it in. It looks good like that. How about I pay and then we can leave?"

"Alright."

Since the tags were sticking outside the clothes, Michael didn't even have to take them off while the cashier rang him up. Michael actually ended up wearing them for a couple of days once we got back before switching to his old robes again. He said that he felt more comfortable in them, and the other Angels seemed to be rather intimidated by his new threads, so he was just going to stick with his robes from now on. I'm not sure why he cared what the other Angels thought, but, at that point, I gave up. I had done everything I could to introduce Michael to modern fashion, and if he didn't like it, he didn't like it. It wasn't like I couldn't enjoy fashion by myself, and he still looked good in his robes, so I let the matter drop. At least, until Enoch ascended, but that's a tale for another day.

Catch you later.


End file.
